Album Reviews by Marshall Gu

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Big K.R.I.T. – 4eva N a Day

Big K.R.I.T.’s most lightweight album or mixtape; 4eva N a Day is the only thing in his discography so far with no features and at only 15 tracks (excluding two 30-second skits that no one needs) totaling less than 50 minutes, it’s also his shortest. Add to this the lack of spellcheck (Willie B plays something called a “saxaphone” on the second song) and we have an obvious stopgap between K.R.I.T.’s best release and debut album. That being said, perhaps because it’s shorter than his other stuff, it’s easier to swallow: his preachiness and penchant for repeating hooks to form choruses tend to get tedious after a while, and because it’s K.R.I.T. from 2012 instead of K.R.I.T. from 2013, it’s a really enjoyable release.

“Red Eye” and “Handwriting” are the best songs here. The former is anomalous to the rest of these beats in its minimalistic approach to the beat (just gentle drums and a looped piano cadence until the climax), but both songs are where K.R.I.T. shines lyrically because the lyrics are less generic, allowing him to home in on really specific details, with the former about a breakup and the latter a continuation of where he left off with “Dreamin'” and “American Rapstar,” but still good nonetheless (great sample, too). Listen specifically to when K.R.I.T. capitalizes on a single rhyme over eight lines on “Red Eye,” while rapidly discarding metaphor after metaphor, about writing, poker and racing in that order, before ultimately retreating to alcohol. After that, the saxophone in “Boobie Miles” makes it the most sensual beat in K.R.I.T.’s discography (and the lyrics aren’t what you’d imagine based on the title, thankfully), and there seems to be a lot less upbeat songs here than any other K.R.I.T. release, making “1986,” with its indelible chorus, an easy highlight. And though there ain’t much else going on in the song, “Me and My Old School” does have a really colorful beat out of wind instruments and wah-wah guitar, while “Temptation” is a much better version of “Yeah Dat’s Me,” straight down to the female taking over hook duties in the song’s conclusion. Actually, none of these songs are bad, even though the pornographic “Insomnia” can’t be played around company, though I really wish he expanded “The Alarm” into a more full-bodied song; waste of one of the album’s best beats.

That’s all I got on this one. Really, the last thing I have to say about this is that it’s obviously so much worse than Live From the Underground; you guys don’t know what you really want.